The present invention relates to improved lawn and garden equipment, relating more particularly to lawn mowers to reduce the emissions which contribute to air pollution.
Most lawn mowers in the United States are powered by internal combustion engines which run on gasoline fuel, although there are some electrical machines available. However, gasoline-powered mowers have recently been implicated as contributors of air pollutants due to the incomplete combustion of gasoline. Authorities such as the California Air Resources Board have pinpointed lawn mowers and other gasoline-powered internal combustion engines used on lawn and garden equipment as significant contributors to air pollution.
It is known that engines that are designed to be run on gasoline as a fuel can be converted to use propane as a fuel. This is done, for example by the A. L. Cook Company of Greensboro, N.C. for engines to be mounted on floor buffers. These floor buffers are used inside buildings, without danger of the build-up of toxic emissions. Also, it is common to use propane fuel to power vehicles inside plants, and the like.
However, to applicant's knowledge, no one has previously made the connection that air pollution problems from gasoline powered engines can be reduced by fueling them with propane.
Accordingly, there continues to exist a need for a way to reduce the emissions from lawn and garden equipment, particularly lawn mowers in order to reduce their contributions to air pollution.